


Parenting 101

by makbaes (gentlemindedlostgirl)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Chenle is Kun's son again, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Single Dad Kun, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 20:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17107526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlemindedlostgirl/pseuds/makbaes
Summary: Chenle is normally a good kid. But his woodshop teacher, Mr. Seo, has been sending Kun emails about how his son has been acting out lately. So it's time for a parent-teacher conference.





	Parenting 101

**Author's Note:**

> This was a commission from the wonderful Jae @cuddleyanan on Twitter! Hope you enjoy!

Kun let out a deep sigh as he stood in front of the door of Chenle’s woodshop teacher’s classroom. This wasn’t supposed to be how things went. He wasn’t supposed to be the parent who had to go down to the school because their kid was misbehaving. Chenle was a  _ good  _ kid who studied hard and got excellent grades. 

But now he was getting at least twice weekly emails that Chenle’s grades were dipping, or that he was acting out, and if he wasn’t acting out, he was  _ spacing  _ out. And Kun has tried to get answers out of his son as to what was going on. But Chenle was now seventeen and had decided that Kun was the root of all evil and wouldn’t say a word. 

So there he was, stood in front of Mr. Seo’s office hoping that he could fix things. 

He knocked on the door and was immediately met with the warm smell of sawdust. The tall man who answered the door was covered in it. “Sorry about that,” he chuckled as he stepped back, brushing some of the mess off his pants. “You caught me cleaning up. Mr. Qian, then?” 

“Kun,” the man said as he stepped into the classroom. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. Seo.”

“Johnny,” he smiled before sitting down at his desk at the front of the workshop. “Chenle’s a good kid. I’m happy to help in any way I can.” 

“That’s why I’m so confused,” Kun frowned as he sat down at one of the small desks near the teacher’s. “I’ve never seen Chenle do anything like this before. And he’s not  _ talking  _ to me about it when I ask. That’s not like him. We’re quite close usually. I never thought there’d be secrets.” 

“Well, that’s teenagers, unfortunately,” Johnny frowned. “They get over it once they spend about a year in college and realize what it’s like to be on their own.” 

“Do you have kids?” Kun asked curiously, hoping to find any sort of advice on the matter. Chenle was his only child, he had no experience raising a teenager and he was beginning to feel completely at a loss. 

“Me? Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s just what I’ve heard time and time again from friends of mine. I wanted kids, it just hasn’t happened and—“ he shook his head. “Never mind that. This isn’t about me. This is about Chenle.”

“Do you have any idea what the problem might be?” Kun asked. 

Johnny pursed his lips. He  _ did _ , in fact, have a pretty strong idea of what the cause of Chenle’s distraction was, and his name was Jisung Park. Johnny had come to notice that during lecture time, Chenle was either staring dreamily at Jisung, or writing him notes that he never actually gave him. During shop time, Chenle’s main preoccupation was with making Jisung laugh. Which was, quite frankly,  _ highly _ adorable. But ultimately unproductive for Chenle’s grades and very dangerous around power tools. 

But what if Chenle wasn’t out to his father? Johnny wasn’t going to be the one to divulge such a huge secret to him. He was an educator, not the gay police. So he had to broach this subject very carefully so as to help Kun without possibly outing his son. 

“I believe he has a crush on another one of the students in the class,” Johnny said finally. Not lying, while also pointedly not revealing the student’s gender. “Chenle focuses quite well when said student is absent for the day. But when the student is here? All hope is lost. It’s pretty cute actually,” Johnny smiled fondly as he thought to some of the things Chenle had done to make Jisung blush. 

Kun furrowed his eyebrows for a moment until a look of recognition and awe washed over his face. “Oh my god. Oh my god that makes everything make so much sense,” Kun said softly. And then the young parent covered his mouth with his hand and giggled a bit. “Sorry, oh my god, I’m so sorry. It’s just—this is Chenle’s first real crush. Oh  _ that’s  _ why that Jisung boy is over my house every day.” Kun gasped as he looked back over to Johnny. “Oh my god, does Chenle think I would be cruel to him for coming out? Why hasn’t he told me?” 

Johnny offered Kun a small smile. It had been highly amusing to watch Kun go through ten different emotions within the span of two minutes. “He just might not be ready yet. I’m sure you and your wife have created a warm environment for him, don’t worry about that.” 

“Oh, no, no wife,” Kun said, shaking his head. “It’s just me. Chenle was born to a surrogate.” 

This was...good information for Johnny, who couldn’t help but notice how lovely the young man looked. He was in a light blue dress shirt—he had clearly just come from whatever office job he seemed to have. He looked clean, professional, but his face was still round, soft, and unmistakably kind. He seemed to be the kind of young man that Johnny would have fallen for hard in his college days—god, how long ago was that now? It felt like ancient history. “Well, regardless,” Johnny said, “I wouldn’t take it as a personal offense to your parenting. Chenle’s spoken fondly of you. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.” 

Kun sighed and slumped forward onto the desk a little, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed. “It’s just that—I mean, he  _ has  _ to know I’m gay. I used to date when he was younger...oh, what if he doesn’t remember? Oh my god my son doesn’t know I’m gay,” Kun said, running a hand through his hair as his eyes blew wide. “I have to come out to my fucking teenager.” He immediately clamped his mouth shut as he realized he swore in front of his child’s teacher. “Christ, I’m sorry.”

Johnny couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the hilarity of this situation. He had been teaching for about ten years at this point, but never had he encountered a gay man having a panic about his possibly gay son not knowing. It was so delightfully absurd that he had to laugh. “I’m sure that whenever you decide to tell him, everything will fall together just fine. In a few years, this will be one hell of a hysterical story.” 

“This is a goddamn nightmare is what it is,” Kun sighed as he looked back down at his hands. “How the hell do I start that conversation? What do I  _ do _ ?” 

“You said you dated when he was younger,” Johnny said, probing partially for his own selfish interest. “You’re not...there’s no one on the horizon now?” 

Kun shook his head. “No, I haven’t been on the dating scene since Chenle was what, five? I was so focused on raising him...I let it all fall to the wayside. Why do you ask?” 

“Well I just figured,” Johnny hummed as he tried to formulate an excuse, “Introducing him to a male partner would be a fairly effective way of coming out.” 

“If only,” Kun frowned. “Sorry, this meeting was supposed to be about getting Chenle’s grades up. And here I am waxing pathetic about how I haven’t dated in over ten years.” 

“I really can’t see how that’s possible,” Johnny said, leaning forward a bit and resting his elbows on the desk. “You’re a great parent who loves his son immensely, you’re smart, and handsome as hell. How the  _ hell _ has no one snatched you?” He asked, opting to throw all caution to the wind so as to deal with repercussions later. 

Kun flushed a bright red and looked down at his hands. “Mr. Seo, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were flirting with me.” 

“If you think you know better, maybe I should be trying harder,” Johnny teased with a little chuckle. “I don’t mean to be forward. I’m sorry. I know I’m your son’s teacher and I’m likely making you uncomfortable. Forget I said anything.” 

“And if I don’t want to?” Kun hummed as he finally willed himself to look Johnny in the eyes again. He liked the warmth that he was met with there. He couldn’t help but wonder, as he looked down at Johnny’s folded, calloused hands, how they might feel tangled in his own. He imagined it might be pretty nice. 

And there were worse people in the world to go on a date with than the woodshop teacher. He was handy, that was for certain. And Kun knew that he cared deeply for every kid that walked into his classroom—that was evident in his willingness to even have this silly meeting with Kun in the first place. And if he really had always wanted kids…

Kun was getting ahead of himself. It was a nasty habit of his that he’d had since he was young. One date—or even the  _ promise  _ of a date—and Kun was left imagining the rest of his life with that person. It was a dangerous game to play, of course, because it usually meant that Kun was left disappointed when people inevitably didn’t live up to his imagination of what they had the potential to be. That was part of what had kept him from dating all this time in the first place. 

Still, he couldn’t help but look at Johnny and imagine  _ what if?  _ If this was just a passing flirtation, so be it. It would be a shame. But all the same, it would be nice to have been flirted with even just for a moment. It had been  _ so long  _ since someone had last flirted with Kun, and it was nice to have the reminder that he was still fairly young and good looking enough to catch a handsome young teacher’s eye. It made his chest bubble with an excitement that he hadn’t felt in  long time. 

Johnny chuckled and smiled over at Kun before stepping out from behind the desk, opting to lean against the front of it instead so that there was no longer a barrier between them. “Well, in  _ that  _ case,” Johnny smiled, “I might admit that I’ve been looking for an excuse to spend some time with you since you headed that bake sale for the soccer team.”

Kun laughed. He remembered that well. Chenle had come to him  _ begging  _ Kun to help him with a bake sale to raise money for the school soccer team. Which, of course, meant that Kun was essentially handling the whole thing. He  _ had  _ been wondering why the woodshop teacher had been hanging around the table...and buying so many of their treats...and  _ god  _ Kun was an idiot. 

“And I was hoping to ask if I could take you out for dinner sometime,” Johnny finished. “Or drinks. Or really whatever you prefer.”

“Dinner,” Kun said with a smile. “You know the Italian place downtown?”

“Friday night?” Johnny asked. “I’ll pick you up at six?”

“It’s a date,” Kun smiled. 

“And one hell of a way to come out to your son,” Johnny chuckled. 

Kun laughed as the realization hit him that, yes, he  _ was  _ going to have to explain this to Chenle. And that was going to be one hell of an event. 

“Poor kid,” Kun chuckled. “‘Hey, Chenle, I had a meeting with Mr. Seo today. Stop flirting with Jisung and pay attention in school. Also, Mr. Seo’s taking me out on a date this Friday and you’re not allowed to embarrass me.’ Talk about a turn of the tables, huh?”

“It  _ is  _ a little ridiculous when you put it like that.”

“I’ll take it,” Kun smiled. “Thank you for everything, Johnny. I’ll...figure out how to have this chat with Chenle. And I’ll see you Friday.”

“I look forward to it,” Johnny smiled. 

 

* * *

 

Kun felt much like he did when he was Chenle’s age as he dressed himself for his date with Johnny that Friday. Chenle, for his part, was sitting on his father’s bed and rolling his eyes as he watched Kun agonize over button-downs. 

“You look  _ fine,  _ dad,” Chenle said. “I can’t believe you’re going out with my  _ teacher. _ ” 

“ _ I  _ can’t believe you let your grades slip for a  _ boy,”  _ Kun countered, which shut Chenle right up. He had since pulled his act together once Kun revealed that he understood why Jisung was over their house so often, but it was still a frequent point of teasing. 

The doorbell rang, and Kun froze before Chenle was practically pushing him out the bedroom door. “Have fun! Be home before eleven! Don’t get drunk! Call me if you need anything!” Chenle teased with a laugh as he forced his father through the halls and to the front door. He grinned up at Johnny when he opened the door. “Hi Mr. Seo! Be nice to my dad!” he said as he pushed his father out the front door with some force and shut the door behind him. 

The push consequently sent Kun, in an act of utter cliche, falling directly into Johnny’s arms. Johnny seemed to take this in stride, helping Kun to his feet with a chuckle. 

“Kids,” Kun flushed, shaking his head. 

“He’s a good one,” Johnny smiled before offering Kun his arm. “Ready to go?”

Kun nodded and happily linked his arm in the taller man’s. 

It was, in short, the best date that Kun had ever been on. He hadn’t exactly been on  _ many  _ dates, but that was beside the point. Johnny had beat out every single other man Kun had ever dated quickly. He pulled out Kun’s chair at the restaurant, complimented every aspect of his appearance, talked kindly of his son, told funny stories, and held his hand across the table. The three hours that they spent at that table made Kun wonder how he had managed to spend so long  _ not  _ doing this when going on a date with Johnny Seo felt like the most natural thing in the entire world. 

They were splitting a slice of chocolate cake for dessert when Kun finally spoke up about how he had been feeling the entire night. “Where the hell have you been this whole time?” he asked, only partially joking. 

“Far too shy to try to even talk to someone like you,” Johnny admitted before taking a bite of the cake. “But that doesn’t matter now, does it? We’re here. And I’d really like to do this again if you would.”

“Yeah,” Kun said with a smile. “Yeah, Johnny, I really would. That sounds amazing.”

The date ended too quickly for Kun’s liking. And soon they were standing back at Kun’s front door, fingers interlocked and ‘goodbye’ resting uncomfortably on their tongues. The very last thing in the world Kun wanted to do was have this come to an end. But they couldn’t put it off any longer. It was getting late, and they had to go. 

“Thanks for not thinking I was a total creep and agreeing to go out with me,” Johnny chuckled as he gave Kun’s hand a squeeze. 

Kun beamed up at him. “Thanks for taking me on the best date I’ve been on in a long time. And for being such a gentleman. No one’s ever held a car door open for me before,” he teased gently. 

“I was really hoping you wouldn’t find that lame,” Johnny admitted with a flush. “I just...wanted to impress you. I really wanted you to want to do this again.” 

“Mission accomplished,” Kun promised with a smile, feeling a little bold as he stepped closer to Johnny and closed the distance between them. “I definitely want to go out again. If you’d like that, that is.”

“I definitely would,” Johnny said, cupping Kun’s face in his palm and rubbing his cheek gently with his thumb. “Good night, Kun,” he said softly. 

Kun placed his hand on top of Johnny’s and smiled warmly at him. “Good night, Johnny.”

It had been over ten years since Kun Qian had been kissed like this. And now that he was, he had no idea how he had ever survived. Warmth washed over him in waves and he felt like he could float off into the distance. He felt pathetic being pushing forty and feeling like his knees were going to buckle as Johnny’s soft lips pressed against his. But it had just been so  _ long  _ that he couldn’t even remember what it had been like. Now that he was reminded, however, he was never going to go that long ever again. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could last a week without a kiss at this point. 

The pair was interrupted by Chenle’s voice calling out “gross!” from the other side of the door that had apparently opened as some point during their kiss. Neither of them had even noticed. 

Kun laughed from his place in Johnny’s arms, thoroughly embarrassed and trying to cope with the strange fact that his teenage son had just seen him nearly melt into the arms of his teacher. That was a conversation he was really hoping he would have been able to avoid for at least a little while longer. He could only imagine how awkward this was about to become for Chenle. You never think about your teachers being people until you’re forced to, and Chenle had just gotten quite the rude awakening on that fact. 

Johnny was flushed bright red, and Kun thought it was nice to not be the only one blushing for a change. He’d consider that a win on his part. 

“Thanks again for a great night, Johnny,” he smiled. “Don’t you dare be a stranger.”

“I’m already drafting a good night text to you in my head,” Johnny promised before pressing a kiss to Kun’s forehead. 

“Sap,” Kun teased.

“You deserve it,” Johnny said. “Good night. For real this time.” Johnny pressed one more kiss to the back of Kun’s hand for good measure before finally going back to his car. 

As Kun watched him drive away, he decided he had never been happier that Chenle decided to act out because of a crush. 


End file.
